Tourists to get a glimpse of Titanic

Going beyond books, paintings and films relating the heart-wrenching story of the Titanic, a group of tourists will be able to travel two and a half miles under the Atlantic next summer to witness first hand the final resting place of the dreamliner.

Among those who have already signed up for the trip, that would come at around USD 61,000, are a London banker and a doctor from Missouri in the US.

Deep Ocean Expeditions is planning to take 80 people to the ship, two and a half miles under the Atlantic Ocean, on the centenary of its sinking next year, the Telegraph reported.

Just two visitors can go down at a time and it takes two hours to descend to the Titanic, which was discovered only in 1985.

But the trips costing around USD 61,000 are likely to cause controversy as the spot is also the resting place for 1,517 people who died on April 14 1912.

Experts also claim that previous expeditions have left holes in the sunken liner.

Rob McCallum, the expedition leader of Deep Ocean Expeditions, said it would be the only time the firm took tourists to the spot.

"We never set out to be a retail travel company," he said. "Next year will be a poignant year to make the trip. It's a good time for us to sign off."

Speaking of his previous visit to the ship in 2005, he said, "I knew the ship was 882ft long, that it broke in two, that it was standing upright on the sea bed. But when I actually looked up out of the porthole at it I thought, 'Holy moly'."

Between the two parts of the broken ship, the ocean floor is strewn with bottles, cups, knives and leather suitcases.